Acute Kidney Injury Common in Those Who Receive Checkpoint Inhibitors

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in patients with cancer receiving checkpoint inhibitor therapy, according to a study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Researchers included all patients (n=1,016; mean age, 63 years) who received checkpoint inhibitor therapy from May 2011 to December 2016 at Massachusetts General Hospital. Researchers compared baseline serum creatinine (from six months before therapy initiation; mean, 0.9 mg/dL) to creatinine measurements taken within 12 months of starting the therapy.

AKI incidence with checkpoint inhibitor use

AKI occurred in 17% of the study population (n=169), and 8% experienced sustained AKI (n=82). Thirty patients (3%) had potential checkpoint inhibitor-related AKI.

On average, the first episode of sustained AKI occurred 106 days after checkpoint inhibitor initiation. Sixteen patients (2%) experienced stage 3 sustained AKI, and four patients required dialysis.

Proton pump inhibitor use at baseline was associated with sustained AKI. Two-thirds of patients (67%) with sustained AKI died during follow-up (mean time to death, 22 days after episode).